270 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



a greenish-blue to a brassy-green. (See Color 

 Plate 74.) In Florida there is a smaller form of 

 the Purple Crackle, called the Florida Crackle 

 (Quiscalus quiscula ai/hciis). 



The Purple Crackle has been proved by the 

 examination of thousands of stomachs to take 

 fully as much vegetable as animal food, the vege- 

 table food being chiefly grain and fruit. This 

 bird needs watching, for the grain he eats 

 amounts to 45 per cent, of his food. About one- 



third of his food consists of insects most of 

 which are of harmful species. He also eats a 

 few snails, crawfishes, salamanders, small fish, 

 and occasionally a mouse. 



During the breeding season the Crackle does 

 much good by eating insects and by feeding 

 the nestlings with them. In the spring he will 

 follow the plow in search of grub-worms, of 

 which he is so fond that he sometimes literally 

 crams his stomach full of them. 



BOAT-TAILED CRACKLE 



Megaquiscalus major major ( Vicillot) 



A. O. l-T. Number 51,^ 



General Description. — Length, 16 inches. Male, 

 glossy black ; female, sooty-brown above and light 

 brown below. Bill, about the length of the head, 

 narrow, and curved downward at the tip ; wing, mod- 

 erately long; tail, as long or longer than wing and 

 graduated for from Yz to Y} its length. The tail is 

 plicate, or capable of being folded vertically, so that a 

 transverse section is V-shaped, the two edges being 

 brought near together when flying; because of this 

 folding and the graduated form of the tip. the effect, 

 when the bird is flying, is very peculiar, the tail appear- 

 ing as if much longer on one side than on the other. 



Color. — Adult Male: Head and neck, glossy dark 

 violet, passing gradually into steel-blue on the back and 

 breast, this into dark bluish-green on rump, abdomen, 

 and flanks (duller on rump) ; lesser wing-coverts, dark 

 steel-blue, the middle coverts green or bluish-green ; 

 rest of wings, together with the tail, black, very faintly 

 glossed with bluish-green ; thighs, and under tail-cov- 



erts, black ; bill, black ; iris, light yellowish, .^dult 

 Female: Crown and hindneck, sepia-brown, rest of 

 upper parts dark sooty-brown, faintly glossed with 

 greenish; a stripe of lighter buffy-brown on the eye; a 

 streak of dusky-brown back of eye ; sides of neck, chest, 

 and sides light brownish ; chin, throat, and abdomen, 

 similar but paler ; flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts, 

 dusky-brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : In colonies, among reeds, 

 in swamps, in small trees, bushes, removed from water, 

 in saplings or in fully grown trees as high as 40 feet 

 above ground ; a large, bulky, rough structure of sticks, 

 grass, bark strips, and roots, generally coated inside 

 with mud. Eggs : 3 to 5, generally 4, brownish-drab 

 tinged with olive or green ; irregularly blotched with 

 brownish and black. 



Distribution. — .South .A.tlantic and Gulf coasts of 

 United States (including whole of Florida) ; north to 

 coast of Virginia, west to coast of Texas. 



This is the " Jackdaw " of the South and is 

 essentially a bird of the coast districts of that 

 region. It got its popular name from the early 

 settlers of the country on account of its super- 

 ficial resemblance to the European Jackdaw, 

 which, of course, is a totally different bird. It is 

 very common in the marsh lands of southern 

 Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, 

 and also on many of the swampy islands along 

 the south Atlantic and Culf coasts. A rather 

 uncommon characteristic of the species is that 

 in the spring migration the females precede the 

 males. The maneuvers of the females in these 

 spring flocks are also remarkable, their rapid 



and sustained flight, sharp turns, hoverings, and 

 sudden dives, during which the flock remains 

 closely bunched, suggesting to some observers 

 the employment of signals from a leader. It is 

 much more probable, however, that the evolu- 

 tions are random and are due to the whims of 

 two or three of the birds, which are instantly 

 accepted by the others. 



Like the other members of its family, this 

 Crackle walks when on the ground, and not in- 

 frequently the birds catch passing insects by 

 means of flying leaps into the air. Another 

 curious characteristic of the species is the de- 

 sertion of the females by the males immediately 



